As the commercial availability of the Internet links the global market place speeding all business processes, XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the International Standard enabling technology for business document and data exchange.

For over twenty-five years EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) has been the technology standard through which electronic document exchange has been possible. However, due to complexity and volume related Value Added Network (VAN) provider costs, EDI has not benefited all business of all sizes.

As Web Services deliver increasing functionality for businesses on a global scale, the XML International Standard for electronic document exchange now provides an opportunity for all businesses of any size to exchange documents electronically with their trading partners.

Freeing information from the shackles of proprietary EDI data format messages and the Value Added Network provider, the XML highway enables secure global document exchange in an open environment, Application-to-Application (A2A), delivering a fast, low cost capability to all businesses of any size.

Worldwide agreement on the underlying XML Standard creates huge opportunities for all enterprises to simplify and integrate existing IT environments without disruption to existing business systems.

Today's focus is on leveraging further automation, inside and outside, to extract maximum cost savings from existing IT investment.